The TC Electronic Classic450 bass amp head offers you easy access to a wide range of classic tones, all via the versatile vintage tone control section. This is backed with a Tubetone and multiband SpectraComp technology. TubeTone emulates every characteristic to deliver the full tube sound. Most transistor designs have tried to replicate the tube sound using one small preamp tube, but they generally fail as they don't take into account the crucial characteristics of the full preamp and power amp sections”both of which are essential to the sound. A regular compressor tends to be dominated by the lower string and most bass players believe that integrated compressors generally don't sound that good. SpectraComp virtually allows 'per string' compression that evens out the compression across all strings, delivering the quality, punchy sound that compressors are all about.

The bass amp head delivers 450W output power via Class D amplifier technology in combination with our Active Power Management. This ensures maximum power impact and behaves like a tube amp at full blast.

4 straight-forward vintage tone controls are carefully designed to grab your bass sound where it makes a difference. With great inspiration from a range of classic bass amp designs, the Vintage Tone control section is all you can wish for in simplicity and great sound. The mute switch allows you to instantly silence your amp while tuning, changing instruments or simply taking a break. The TC Electronic Classic450's tuner out always feeds signal to your tuner even when the front panel mute switch shuts off the speaker and linedriver output. This allows you to tune up in silence. The bass amp head's effects loop allows you to insert effects of your choice between the Pre amp and power amp section.

The input section caters to both active and passive basses, while its fully transformer-balanced line-driver output”featuring a pre/post tone control switch”delivers a perfect reproduction of tone for both recording and live use, so it's an ideal amp both on the road and in the studio.

FEATURES

Vintage tone control

TubeTone

Spectra comp

Wide range instrument input

Integrated linedriver

Output and linedriver Mute

Tuner out

Effects loop

World-ready power supply

Active Power Management

Order the Classic 450 today and get amazing bass power direct to your door.

After paying off my credit cards and student loans, I was looking for a new bass amp. This thing really caught my eye! I tried one out at a local dealer, then went to Musician's Friend for the best price and a better satisfaction guarantee.Here's the skinny:I tried all three TC bass heads: "The Classic",the RS 450and the "Staccato."Tone wise, they are exactly the same.Power-wise, exactly the same.The big difference is the two more expensive models have lighted knobs, and the three-button memory feature.That three button "tone memory" is really useful for guys who have to play several different styles LIVE. It allows you to change instantly from your finger-style, to a thumbin' style. Of course to do that fast, you have to buy a footswitch with the TC heads.I have seen professional upright players use this kind of feature to switch from bowed to pizzicato playing on upright-acoustic gigs. So, I know this is a useful thing. But, I am a "set-it-and-forget-it" kind of guy, and I only play electric, so that feature was not so important to me. Also, I don't need the built-in tuner. I can tune by ear, and if I need a backstage tuner, I already have a good one. That's why i got this model, and I loved it!Then my teacher showed me his "live" rig. He uses a 2x12" cab that is slightly larger than this one, and he uses a Rack-mounted stereo power amp that is a little larger, 4 pounds heavier and TWICE as powerful; made by QSC I think. His rig is just as portable as the TC combos because it has wheels and a handle, but it sounds SO MUCH louder and cleaner than this. He even showed me the difference by using the same cab and bass with his amp and this one. We took the direct out from this preamp into his power-amp, so everything was exactly the same except the power-section. It was night and day! Even with the TC head 'dimed' it couldn't keep up with his plain old power amp on "4."For a preamp, he uses something called a Sansamp "Bass Driver". The Bass Driver has the same three-button memory feature, but is only $199 and you don't have to pay extra for a foot-switch.My teacher does a lot of sessions here in New York and even sits in with the Letterman band occasionally. He only brings the Sansamp bass driver to those sessions, because it is so light, small, it fits in his gig-bag. He travels by taxi so that is a huge deal for him. He tried to explain the differences between these new "class-D" amps and his old "A/B" power amp. All I know is the old amps are a LOT LOUDER and CLEANER. The preamp does all the work of creating the "tone." He also uses some kind of "compressor" for some things, especially thumb-n-pop style.When I found out he paid less for his entire rig than this head costs, that he can use just the preamp for sessions and that the Sansamp preamp cost only $200, I sent mine TC head back.I want to say thanks to Musicians Friend for being such a great store with helpful people and having a great return policy. The guy on the phone was totally cool, so I will buy more stuff from MF! Peace.

I ordered the Classic450 based on the many online reviews that seemed to be glowing about this and it's sister products the RH450 and the Staccato. Right out of the box I noticed how lightweight it was, It almost seemed the cords could likely drag it off the top of your speaker cabinet, although that did not happen. Assembled it and fired it up, plugged a bass in and began to tweak the knobs. Right off the bat the gain knob was making a terrible noise, a bit like a dirty potentiometer while turning it. I contacted TC and they advised me to turn it off and turn the knob from zero to ten and back again to clear it. That did not help. So, I set the gain and left it alone. I tested the head with the RS210 and RS212 cabinets. Very focused in the midrange, and almost to a fault. The bottom end was not tight or punctuated, even with an active G&L bass plugged in. Very flabby bottom that could not be tightened up with mucho eq. The top end suffers a bit as well. If mids and mids only are what you after, this is the amp for you. If you like a full bodies tone (and I am not speaking of a smiley face eq, scooped setting), that has lows, mids and highs, look elsewhere. My personal belief is that is the reason people perceive the TC line to be louder than it is, if you want some low end booty, and a bit of top end sizzle, avoid.

I got the classic 450 and the 4x10 RS cab about 3 years ago and at first I was really impressed with it. I was tired of lugging my Ampeg around so this was a great alternative... anyway I have nothing bad to say about the sound of the amps as it sounds awesome but after just 3 years of owning this amp it died on me. According to my tech class D amps are somewhat prone to frying... so buyer beware!! It sounds great but these amps are not built for the long haul!

Having owned (at one-time-or-another) Fender, Ampeg, SWR, Mesa Boogie for over 35 years, I switched to a tc electronics Staccato '51 for its size, weight, and power 3 years ago. It is absolutely one of the best amps that I've owned over the years. I purchased the Classic 450 (restock) as an additional (slaved) power source for those gigs that need it. And so far, this has worked out great.

I have 2 tc RS210's and 2 tc RS212's. This gives me the flexibility to play any gig: from small intimate bars (Classic 450 + 1 RS210) to outdoor concerts utilizing 4 cabinets and 2 amps (900W+), taking up less stage room than SVT 8-10's, weighing a lot less, and very easy to transport.